Most gloves fasten with Velcro and all the technology that’s thrown at them and any amount of ergonomically designed features cannot save a pair of gloves that do not stay fastened. Suddenly you move from a smooth synergy with the bars to fighting with an annoying flap around your wrist. It’s like the hand equivalent of spending the day in socks where the elastic’s gone and they’re left slumped around your ankles.
My first experience of this was with a pair of Specialized Body Geometry gloves(this is the current model and the problem may have been fixed on them). They were excellent in every way, except for their ability to stay done up for very long, and it was my first experience of consigning a piece of kit to the “only in emergencies” pile long before it was full of holes and so discoloured with mud and sweat and oil despite many washes that the colour was no longer clear.
I thought that was it, I’ve avoided Specialized gloves since and hoped that would keep me happy. However, I’ve discovered that the problem goes further than one brand. My newest gloves were Endura Singletrack and also full of features, almost perfectly designed for cross country mountain biking. That is, apart from the fastening. After less than three weeks I was experiencing an annoyingly familiar problem with the Velcro not staying fastened. The soft side of the fastening had failed so much that only careful positioning and then a minimum of wrist movements would keep it holding.
The gloves have gone back to the shop where they were kind enough to exchange them for a different brand, so I now have some more winter-orientated gloves, which I am less sure about, but will hopefully be a boon for the cold weather. I shall be interested to see if Pearl Izumi can succeed where Specialized and Endura can’t. In any case I can see myself looking for some lighter gloves in the spring, and I’ll be going back to the brands I have trusted so far, so they’ll be Fox Racing or 661.
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